Negaunee’s Evan DellAngelo, center, jumps to make a catch and score a touchdown between Marquette defenders Ford Richardson, left, and Braylon Zdunek during their game played at Miners Stadium in Negaunee on Aug. 28. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The numbers may not be what they were in the past, but the quality sure seems to be as good as it’s always been.

We’re talking about the Michigan High School Athletic Association football playoffs as just three area teams made the field, all in the 11-player version of the game.

That includes Marquette County’s two largest districts, Marquette and Negaunee, along with a school that has struggled with enrollment declines in recent years, L’Anse.

The Sentinels in Division 3, Miners in Division 5, and the Purple Hornets in Division 8 all go on the road for their playoff openers, each of which will be played at 7 p.m. EDT Friday.

This is just the first of five weeks of playoff games these teams will face if they want to get to the state finals set for Nov. 28 and 30 — a bit of a change from past years — at Ford Field, home of the Lions in Detroit.

The 11-player finals have always been on consecutive days, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, after the Detroit pro team takes time off following its traditional holiday game at home.

While the Lions will still be home on Turkey Day like usual, Ford Field has now scheduled Michigan State’s final collegiate game of the season for Saturday, Nov. 29, necessitating a Friday-Sunday schedule for the 11-player high school finals this year.

By the way, the Superior Dome in Marquette will host the eight-player football finals the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Nov. 22. As usual, it will be a doubleheader featuring the top teams in Divisions 1 and 2.

And there’s a decent chance of at least one Upper Peninsula team making those games, since a total of seven U.P. squads made the eight-player playoffs, just that none are from the area.

The road games for area teams right away in the first round just signifies that these teams were the Nos. 3 or 4 seeded teams in their four-team district. They’ll be playing at the top-ranked squads, specifically No. 3 at No. 2 and No. 4 at No. 1.

In the first three rounds, both district rounds and the regionals, home teams in each matchup are determined by playoff points. Semifinals are scheduled for neutral sites and the finals are in Detroit.

About the same is true for eight-player, but because those playoffs are only four rounds, only the first two rounds are hosted by higher playoff-point teams with semis at neutral sites and the finals in Marquette.

Just a few years ago, the MHSAA went back to its traditional playoff-point formula to determine who makes the playoffs. Teams are set in their division before the season began, then calculations are used to determine every team’s playoff points.

Points are gained based on wins and losses, the division of the opponent and opponents’ wins. A calculator for points can be found with each school’s football schedule at the MHSAA website, www.mhsaa.com.

While geography determines how teams are broken into their various regions and districts, it doesn’t come into play within the districts. That’s evident as Negaunee has a road game in its Division 5 opener and Kingsford has a home game in that same district.

But the seeding numbers didn’t play out to have the Miners play at the Flivvers. Instead, No. 4 seeded Negaunee goes to No. 1 Ogemaw Heights downstate in West Branch, while No. 2 Kingsford hosts No. 3 Gladwin.

Each of those trips are at least 300 miles for the visiting team, according to a look at the official Michigan road map mileage guide.

It won’t be quite that long, 225 miles, for Marquette’s trip to Gaylord as a matchup between Nos. 2 and 3 seeds. If the Sentinels had to visit another team in their district, they would’ve had a longer trip than Negaunee fans would have, going to Mount Pleasant or Bay City.

Then there’s L’Anse, which is in a cooperative with Baraga. The Hornets and their fans only have to go as far as Iron Mountain for their No. 2 vs. No. 3 first-round matchup as all four teams in their district are in the U.P. — there’s also No. 4 West Iron County and No. 1 Bark River-Harris.

Here’s a look at each area team, plus a roundup of other U.P. qualifiers:

Marquette Sentinels

Watchers and those in the know about the playoffs thought there was a real possibility that the Sentinels wouldn’t make the playoffs if they had lost in their final game to Kingsford, a regular U.P. power that was ranked No. 3 in last week’s U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association rankings.

But Marquette took care of most doubt by finishing off the regular season with a 21-13 squeaker at home over the Flivvers on Friday night.

MSHS (6-3) is likely getting a playoff rematch it really wants, since Gaylord won their Big North Conference title, largely because of a 28-27 overtime win in Marquette back on Sept. 13.

Despite the Blue Devils finishing the season with a perfect 9-0 record, including 6-0 in the Big North, Gaylord won six of those by a touchdown or less, only rolling up breathable wins over conference dregs Cadillac, Alpena and Sault Ste. Marie, which combined had an overall record of 3-24.

Marquette beat those three teams, too, also downing Saginaw United after a long road trip downstate, Big North fourth-place Petoskey, and most recently Kingsford.

The Sentinels took losses to Negaunee to open the season, to Gaylord and to Big North runner-up Escanaba, 38-20, their only setback by more than a touchdown.

As a No. 3 seed, there’s a chance the Sentinels could host a second-round playoff game even while playing its opener on the road. It’s something MSHS did back in 2010, when the school first started making regular playoff appearances.

That year, Marquette won its postseason opener, just the second playoff game the school had ever been involved in, 63-22 at Bay City John Glenn. That earned MSHS a home berth in the second round, which it lost 28-0 to Cadillac, a current member of the Big North.

Just in the past 16 seasons, including this fall, Marquette has qualified for the playoffs 10 times. That was after getting in just once from the start of the MHSAA playoffs in 1975 through 2009.

For the Sentinels to return for a home game in Round 2, they would need a win this weekend and also have No. 4 seed Bay City Western (4-5) win at No. 1 Mount Pleasant (9-0), both members of the Saginaw Valley League North Division.

Despite the disparity in records, the Oilers only beat BC Western 28-17 when they met on Oct. 3.

Leading teams in Region 3’s District 2, potential third-round opponents, are Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills (8-1), Cedar Springs (8-1) and East Grand Rapids (7-2).

Negaunee Miners

Unlike Marquette, Negaunee has no hopes of hosting a playoff game, having the fewest playoff points of any team in its District 1 or in District 2.

But the Miners are still afforded the same chance to play — and win — as any other team.

Negaunee finished 5-3 to earn 40.875 playoff points, actually within three points of two of the other three teams in their district, and that same proximity to two teams where the regional opponent would come from, District 2.

Of course, as a No. 4 seed, the Miners draw the toughest opener, facing No. 1 Ogemaw Heights (8-1) with its 54.389 points.

The other district game pits No. 3 Gladwin (5-4) with 43.111 points at No. 2 Kingsford (6-3), with 43.222 points.

Saginaw Swan Valley (8-1) is the leading team in District 2.

The Miners finished fourth in the rugged Copper Division of the West PAC at 4-3, where all four of the top teams made the playoffs — Kingsford joining Negaunee in Division 5, Calumet in Division 6 and Menominee in Division 7.

And those three teams represent the Miners’ only losses, all by 15 to 28 points.

Meanwhile, Negaunee opened the season with a 30-22 win over Division 3 Marquette, also beating Iron Mountain out of conference (West PAC Iron Division), while also downing Gladstone, Hancock and Houghton. The Miners also picked up a forfeit by Westwood.

A look at another Michigan high school football website, michigan-football.com, shows Negaunee never having played Ogemaw Heights in the playoffs before — never in 30 previous MHSAA playoff appearances under past Miners head coaches Paul Jacobson and the late Dick Koski.

That might be because the Falcons from West Branch have only been in Division 5 for about a decade or even less, playing postseason games in that division from 2019-24. Before that, Ogemaw Heights played in Division 3 and 4 postseason games from 1999 when the playoffs were split into numeric divisions through 2013.

L’Anse Purple Hornets

The combined L’Anse-Baraga team doesn’t have quite the playoff pedigree of Marquette or Negaunee, but the Purple Hornets have eight past appearances in the MHSAA playoffs, including four times since 2012, though their most recent game was in 2022.

L’Anse’s most recent playoff wins were in 2013, a 52-34 win over Lake Linden-Hubbell, and in 2012, a 34-28 victory over Forest Park, with only one other playoff win shown on www.michigan-football.com.

Baraga High School has playoff appearances in 11-player football most recently in 2010 and a win most recently in 2005.

And the Vikings made it all the way to the state championship game in Class D in 1995.

This year, L’Anse only has three actual wins on the field as part of its 5-4 record, picking up forfeits from Gwinn twice as both are members of the Iron Division of the West PAC.

The Purple Hornets opened the season with wins over Hancock, West Iron County and Manistique before losing to Iron Mountain, Bark River-Harris and WIC — all in L’Anse’s Division 8 District 1 — then Calumet, a D-6 playoff team.

The rematch with the Mountaineers follows IM pulling out a narrow 30-26 win on Sept. 26.

And L’Anse is in a similar situation to Marquette — a win by the Hornets and another by district No. 4 seed WIC (4-4) at No. 1 BR-H (7-1) and L’Anse would be playing in the second round in Baraga County.

The top teams in District 2 that could be in a third-round matchup are all from the Lower Peninsula, Maple City Glen Lake (7-1), East Jordan (6-3) and Frankfort (6-3).

Other U.P. teams

The three area teams join seven more from other parts of the U.P. to make 10 in the 11-player playoffs, and they join the seven in eight-player for 17 in all.

In 11-player, Escanaba (8-1) is the lone U.P. representative as the No. 1 seed and hosts Freeland (7-2). Only one team in District 2 has more playoff points than the Eskymos — Hudsonville Unity Christian — for a shot for a third-round home game, too.

Kingsford joins Negaunee in Division 5, the Flivvers rooting for the Miners to win this weekend to get a chance to also host a second-round game. Three of the four teams in District 2 have more playoff points than Kingsford, however.

Calumet (7-2) carries the torch for the U.P. in Division 6, the No. 4 seed playing at No. 1 Kingsley (7-2). The other matchup is No. 3 Boyne City (6-3) at No. 2 Traverse City St. Francis (6-2), meaning the Copper Kings are guaranteed a second-round road game if they advance.

And Menominee is the lone U.P. squad in Division 7, but at 9-0 is the No. 1 seed and will play at home for three straight weeks if the Maroons keep advancing.

In eight-player, there are three U.P. teams in Division 1’s Region 1, the fourth being state No. 1 Indian River Inland Lakes (9-0).

But Inland Lakes is only a No. 2 seed, also undefeated Norway (8-0) having about one more playoff point to be No. 1 seed and hosting No. 4 Gogebic-Bessemer (8-1) this weekend. The other game has Inland Lakes hosting No. 3 Pickford (7-1), which reached the D-1 finals last year.

In Division 2, four U.P. teams qualified and make up Region 1. No. 1 North Dickinson (9-0) hosts No. 4 St. Ignace (6-3), while No. 2 Lake Linden-Hubbell (7-2) entertains No. 3 North Central (7-2).

Story contents based on examination of the MHSAA website, www.mhsaa.com. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.